Who Will Reconstruct The I-85/GA 316 Interchange?

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, today (10/21 @ 11:00:59 AM) is the day that the Georgia DOT (GDOT) will possibly pick the contractor for the $100,000,000 job to reconstruct the interchange of I-85 and GA 316.

Please click here for the full article.

The current interchange was built in the early 1960's when Gwinnett County was a rural, sparsely-populated place.

From the late 1970's onward, Gwinnett County grew, and grew, and grew. During the 1980's, it was the fastest growing county in the U.S.

During all this time of growth, the road infrastructure was woefully inadequate for the new demands put on it.

While I-85 was widened during the 1980's and HOV lanes were added in the late 1990's, its interchange at GA 316 (a.k.a. University Parkway) remained about the same as it was when both roads were originally built.

And now, a brief history of GA 316 itself...

GDOT originally planned GA 316 as an interstate-standard expressway from I-85 to Athens.

As of 1965, GA 316 extended merely 5 miles (9 km) from I-85, dead-ending at GA 120 just outside Lawrenceville. (Interestingly enough, the highway sign from I-85 had always given both Lawrenceville and Athens as control cities.)

As a child growing up in Gwinnett County, I remember the dead-end, the bridge that went over nothing, and just a patch of woods being on the other side of the bridge.

In 1981, GDOT opened an extension of GA 316 from GA 120 to US 29/GA 8 near Dacula. This stretch was 4-lanes divided, but with intersections instead of interchanges, thus not interstate-standard. For the next 12 years, it simply dead-ended at US 29/GA 8.

Finally, GDOT decided to extend GA 316 all the way to the Athens area, but again, not interstate-standard.

The first stretch of the extension opened in 1993, bringing GA 316 to GA 11 in Barrow County. At that time, US 29 was rerouted onto GA 316, GA 11, and then back to its original route just east of Winder.

The final eastern stretch of GA 316 from GA 11 to the Athens Perimeter (GA 10 Loop/GA 422) opened to traffic in 1995.

US 29 was then rerouted onto GA 316, and GA 8 was rerouted onto GA 316 at the GA 53 intersection. This section included a new diamond interchange with US 78/GA 10 in Oconee County (the first new interchange on GA 316 since the 1960's). At that point, US 78 was rerouted onto GA 316 along with US 29/GA 8.

Once you reached the Athens Perimeter at what was originally the Epps Bridge Road exit, US 29/GA 8, and US 78 were rerouted onto the outer part of the loop, taking them toward the University of Georgia.

Going forward from GA 316, it becomes what is now Epps Bridge Parkway (formerly Epps Bridge Road), a locally-maintained 4-lane divided road that funnels traffic into Downtown Athens. (Coming from Downtown Athens, you will see a sign that says "TO GA 316/Epps Bridge Pkwy/Atlanta". This is a left-hand exit from US 78 Business/GA 10 West (a.k.a. Broad Street)).

As for the "old US 29"...

The section between Dacula and Winder was simply GA 8 until GDOT decided to give it the US 29 Business designation just before 2000. Locals, however, still refer to it as "Highway 8" or "Old 29".

The "old US 29/GA 8" from GA 53 to what is now US 78 Business/GA 10 in Clarke County was given to the local governments to maintain.

As of now, there hasn't really been much talk in the news about the GDOT public/private proposal to upgrade the remainder of GA 316 to interstate standards with tollbooths.

For some more GA 316 and Athens Perimeter info and pictures, please see the GA 316 and Athens Perimeter webpages on AA Roads's Georgia Gateway.

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please come back soon.